Pressure of Sky Blues job made coach feel crook

Dominic Bossi

No Gabba green monster as first Test ends in a draw … No MIA as SBW returns to the NRL … Crook week for Sydney FC … Robbie Deans off Campo's Christmas card list.

AND THE WINNER IS ...

It's always difficult deciding who the world's best player is but it may be a lot easier to find the worst. Belgian basketballer Pierre-Yves Winkin appears to have won that unfortunate honour after attempting (and failing) to score four baskets - in the hoop his team was defending. He latched onto a rebound when an opponent missed, but for some reason repeatedly shot at his own basket. After his attempts from under the basket, a teammate fouled him and took the ball away.

LEAP OF BLIND FAITH

Eleven years ago, Erik Weihenmayer did what nobody thought was possible and became the first blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Now he is preparing to face a challenge he finds even more daunting, white-water kayaking down the Colorado River. Weihenmayer has began practising for his adventure at the US National White-water Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, and admits that steering his single-man kayak through the rapids is much scarier than reaching the planet's highest peak. ''This is 10 times scarier than the scariest thing I've ever done and I've done some scary things,'' Weihenmayer said. Weihenmayer is training with the use of guides linked via radio, but already that has failed in trials when fierce rapids muffled communication. He will embark on his journey down the Colorado next year.

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TRUE STORY, HONEST

A NFL player terrified of his team's mascot? Eric Berry might consider asking to be traded after footage revealed the Kansas City Chiefs player is terrified of the team's mascot - a horse. The hard-hitting safety was captured on tape swearing in fear and hiding behind his teammates whenever the Chiefs' mascot Warpaint performed a lap around Arrowhead Stadium. Some media outlets in the US have suggested that Berry may suffer from equinophobia, an irrational fear of horses that causes anxiety. ''I ain't going near that horse … I'll wait 'til the horse pass,'' Berry said in the clip. ''I don't mess with horses, bro, straight up. He might come over here and throw a tantrum.''

Rattlesnakes. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Contains the most pretentious couplet in music history (She looks like Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront; She reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance), but is an album full of pop gems.

- @EarsMcEvoy

IT'S NOT A MONKEY RIDING A GREYHOUND, BUT YOU'LL LIKE IT

Every now and then a goal is scored that reignites the debate about the greatest strikes ever. But, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's incredible long-range bicycle kick is certain to stand the test of time. It's already being labelled as ''the goal of the year'' by some, while others are going so far as to say it's ''the goal of this century.'' Ibrahimovic's fourth goal in Sweden's 4-2 win against England is part scissor kick, part bicycle and struck on the volley in a superb show of skill, awareness and audacity. ''Ibra'' fires a bicycle kick from 30 metres with his back to goal that sends the stadium into raptures and leaves viewers at home jaw-dropped. Amazingly, he had already scored one goal from a similar distance that game, as well as a volley from closer range. His performance opened the new Friends Stadium in Stockholm in style and one Swedish newspaper has urged that the ground already be renamed. ''Just call it the Zlatan Arena,'' Expressen published.

Search: Ibrahimovic on YouTube. Watch, enjoy and repeat.

TRENT NOT COPING

NSW's 12th man Trent Copeland added injury to insult by straining ligaments in his ankle when he slipped carrying drinks to his teammates. The former Test bowler ensured that he would be spending more time away from the crease when he slipped on the stairs outside the dressing room. ''I'm a little bit embarrassed about it,'' Copeland told Fox Sports. ''I've copped plenty of stick from the support staff and also from my family and my wife [netballer Kimberlee Green]. She likes to think that I'm clumsy at the best of times.''

Copeland will be sidelined for six weeks and has been ruled out of NSW's Sheffield Shield clash against Queensland. He will also likely miss the Twenty20 Big Bash League starting on December 7 as he is yet to find a team.